Internal combustion engine



F. I. TONE. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED $221.16, 1916.

1 ,309,9 1 9. Patented July 15, 1919.

FRED I. TONE, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented duly 15, 1919.

Application filed September 16, 1916. Serial No. 120,497.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, FRED I. TONE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indian apolis, Marion county, and State of Indiana, have invented and discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to internal combustion engines and its objects are to provide in a multiple cylinder high-speed engine, such an arrangement of cylinders that the engine will occupy a small area in comparison to the number of cylinders, to provide in conjunction with theparticular number of cylinders used in the preferred form of the power unit employed such an arrangement of cranks and such a firing order of the cylinders that more efl'ective balance of the reciprocating parts will be obtained and so that the reaction due to the immediately successive actions of acceleration and retardation is reduced to a minimum, thereby lessening the vertical vibration, and to provide an arrangement of valves and heads therefor that will so cotiperate with the cylinders as to obtain ready accessibility to the valves for regrinding or replacement, and which arrangement or heads shall also cooperate with the positioning of the cylinders to obtain the result of compactness.

With these objects in view, my invention is embodied in preferable form in the engine hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In these drawings Figure 1 is a vertical cross section through the engine; Fig. 2 is a top plan view, and Fig. 3, a firing order diagram of the engine.

The invention is shown herein as embodied in an engine employing nine cylinders, although the main principles thereof are applicable to any V-sha-ped engine.

Referring to the drawing, 1 is the crank case of the motor, 2 the main shaft and 3, a crank. The connecting rods 4 are pivoted to pistons 5 of the usual form, mounted in the cylinders of the engine. These cylinders are arranged in three rows with three in the central series, the cylinders of which are vertical and are designated by the numeral 6, and with three cylinders in each of the side rows or series, those in the right hand set being designated as 7 and those in the left hand set as 8. The axes of the cylinders of the two side sets are disposed at an angle of- 80 to one another or 40 to the axes of the cylinders of the central row.

The engine is of the valve in the head type. The head for the valves of the central vertical set of cylinders is designated as 9, and 10 indicates the inlet and exhaust valves within such head. A removable cap 11 is attached to the upper part of the head.

The heads 12 and 13 respectively inclose the valves for the right and left sets of inclined cylinders and instead of being contmued in line with the axes of the cylinders as is usual, they are, in the present invention, at an angle to the axes of such cylinders and extend upward vertically parallel to the axes of the head 9 whereby the heads of all the cylinders are arranged in parallelism and within a. comparatively narrow space. The overall width across the heads is less than that across the'heads of an eight cylinder engine, having similar unit dimensions, of the valve-in-the-head type. At the same time the valves themselves are readily accessible since it is merely necessary to remove the upwardly projecting caps from the cylinders in order to reach the valves when it is desired to remove and regrind or replace the same. Removable caps 14:, 15 are attached to the respectii 'e heads.

In conjunction with the arrangement of the cylinders in three rows extending longitudinally of the engine shaft and arranged side by side, there is employed such an arrangement of the cranks and such a special firing order of the'c'ylinders that an exact balancing of the reciprocating parts of the engine is obtained and also the number of the reciprocating parts in which a checking of the momentum thereof occurs, is reduced to a lower number than that heretofore possible with multiple cylinder engines. To these ends three cranks, 3, 3 and 3 are employed, one for each transversely alined set of three cylinders and these cranks are arranged at angles of 120 on the crank shaft. The respective positions which such cranks occupy at a certain time of their revolution is indicated in Fig. 1, in which the front crank 3 is shown in vertical position, and when this crank is in such position, the second crank toward the rear, 3, will be projecting toward the right at an angle of 120 from thevertical, while the rear crank 3" will project toward the left at an angle of 120 to the vertical.

The particular firing order devised in order to coi'iperate with the above arrangement of cylinders and cranks in obtaining the proper balance,-equal spacing of explosions and continuous momentum of the parts is illustrated in Fig. 3, from which it will be seen that the firing order of the cylinders therein indicated is as follows 1, 3', 8, 4', 6', 2', 7., 9', 5. 'the cylinders will thus be successively fired at equal intervals of 80 apart. With thisarrangement at any one time the reciprocating masses of one piston only and a part of its connecting rod will be at a stop, while in a 12 cylinder or a 6 cylinder engine there are always two masses of reciprocating members in connection with which this con dition occurs and in a 4: cylinder, four members.

Intake manifolds 16 are mounted within the space inclosed by the cylinders of the side rows, one manifold being on each side 7 of the central row of cylinders and between the same and the outside row on either side. These manifolds are adapted to supply the explosive mixtures to all the cylinders in one of the side rows and half of the slipply of the central row of cylinders, each cylinder being provided with a double set of intake valves and spaced apart transversely and the inlet opening on each side of the cylinder of the central row being adapted to communicate with the corresponding intake manifold on that side of the row.

Similarly two exhaust manifolds 17 are arranged between the outside rows with one on each side of the centralrow of cylinders and each of these exhaust manifolds is adapted to take all of the exhaust from the row of cylinders on one side of the center and half of the exhaust from the cylinders in the central row, whereby the exhaust gases from said central row are divided transversely and thus back pressure in the exhaust manifold, such as would occur if a single manifold were used, is avoided.

The above arrangement also provides an engine which is approximately only one half as long as a six cylinder motor having similar unit dimensions. The compactarrangement is also of special advantage for driving aeroplanes owing to the fact that it enables the weight of the motor and ,of the aviator to be carried close to the center of the buoyancy. of the plane and also enables the motor to be confined within the lateral boundaries of the fuselage of the aeroplane. It is also of value for high speed motor boats and hydroplanes owing to the same advantage.

The invention also enables the valves to be so mounted as to reciprocate in a vertical line, thereby avoiding the uneven wear nsoaeia of-thevalvesthat would occur if the valves were at an angle to the vertical and thus hearing more heavily on one side than on the other. The vertical projection of the heads is also an advantage in retaining the lubricating oil within the heads more efi'ectively and Without requiring an upwardly extended retaining flange at the lower side such as would be needed in an inclined head.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: E.

1. In an internal combustion engine, in combination with cylinders arranged in three rows extending longitudinally of the engine shaft, an exhaust manifold between each of the side rows and the central row, each of said exhaust manifolds having common communication with the cylinders of said side row and with the central cylinders on one side of the latter.

2.,ln an internal combustion engine, in combination with explosion cylinders ar-' ranged in three rows extending longitudinally of the engine shaft, an intake manifold and an exhaust manifold on each side of the central row of cylinders and having communication therewith on said-side and also having communication with the cylinders in the corresponding side row.

3., In an internal combustion engine, explosion cylinders mounted in three rows extending longitudinally of the engine shaft with three cylinders ora multiple thereof in each row, with the cylinders of the two side rows having their axes at angles of 40" to the axes of the cylinders of the central row, cranks corresponding to each transverse set of three cylinders saidcranks being at an angle of 120 'to one another.

4. In an internal combustion engine, explosion cylinders, arranged in three rows extending longitudinally of the engine shaft with three cylinders in each'row with the cylinders of the two side rows having their axes'at angles of 40 to the axes of the central row, cranks corresponding respectively to each transverse set of three cylinders, said cranks being at an angle of 120 to one another and said cylinders having a firing order corresponding to the diagram shown in Fig. 3 in which the cylinders fire in the following succession, namely: 1, 3, 8, 4c, 6', 2', 7', 9', 5', when the motor is rotating clockwise In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 13th day of September, A; ,D. nineteen hundred and sixteen.

FRED I. TONE.

Witnesses:

H. P. DOOLITTLE, L. BAILEYJ 

